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Review Summary

“Ballerina” parts the curtain on a rarefied realm where the bodies of young girls are stretched, twisted and sent floating on air according to the dictates of a severe and beautiful cult. The public pays top dollar to witness the fruits of this ritualized labor, an exquisite discipline known as the Russian ballet, and now the filmmaker Bertrand Normand bids to demystify its processes in a documentary portrait. Mr. Normand follows the progress of five young women from their acceptances at elite ballet schools to their careers at the apex of the Russian ballet hierarchy and global renown. We eavesdrop on rehearsals, go backstage at auditions and sit among the audience at the Maryinsky Theater, home of Russia’s greatest dance company. This privileged glimpse feels no more than that: “Ballerina” is a frustratingly shallow primer, with only a breezy contextualization of the historical, political and aesthetic factors that play into this beguiling spectacle, and only a skin-deep engagement with the interior lives of its stars. — Nathan Lee